We finally have some more details on the future of M5 Lilla which will arrive in Monza. During the last meeting of the Monza city council, which took place on Monday 6 May, the mayor of Monza, Paolo Pilotto, provided a detailed update on the progress of the work, which aims to significantly improve urban and inter-urban mobility. If all goes according to plan, construction is expected to begin in 2025 and last seven years.
Seven stops are planned in the Municipality of Monza alone: Campania, Marsala, Monza Fs, Centro Trento Trieste, Villa Reale, San Gerardo Hospital, Institutional Center (plus those present in the Municipality of Cinisello Balsamo: Texts Gorky, Bassini, Rondinella Crocetta, Lincoln, Monza Bettola).
Mayor Pilotto explained that on October 24, 2022 Metropolitana Milanese Spa submitted a request for the single regional authorization provision. This step is crucial because it integrates various permits necessary for the realization of the project, including the environmental compatibility assessment, the landscape authorization, and various other authorizations. Furthermore, Pilotto underlined the need to obtain numerous permits to resolve interference with critical infrastructures such as the railway and motorway network, the electricity network and the main Villoresi canal. The complexity of these bureaucratic processes explains the precision and extended time required to move forward with the project.
What are the requests made by the Municipality of Monza for the construction of the section within the municipal area? “The idea is to create access on Viale Campania with a two-way cycle path, in-line parking and sidewalks on both sides of Viale Campania. Reduce the number of parking spaces by providing spaces for vulnerable categories. Give priority to greenery and provide a velo station. Furthermore, maximize tree planting, create a larger paved area at the entrance and exit of the station, and connect with the existing cycle/pedestrian path connected to via Puglia. Finally, use low-impact ecological materials to mitigate pollutants” listed Pilotto in the council chamber.
Last July, the resources allocated to the extension of the M5 line to Monzawhile last December MM, Metropolitana Milanese Spa, has started the expropriation procedures for the areas along the route of the extension of the M5.
The Regional Council of Lombardy approved the modification of the agreement between the Lombardy Region, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and the Municipality of Milan for the state co-financing of the work. “With this resolution,” explained the councilor for Infrastructures and Public Works of the Municipality of Monza, Claudia Maria Terzi, “we receive an increase in the share of state funding, equal to 15 million euros, bringing the total of the resources allocated by the MIT (Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, ed) to 931 million euros. These resources are added to the 283 million of the Lombardy Region, the 37 million of the Municipality of Milan, the 27.5 million of the Municipality of Monza, the 13 million of the Municipality of Cinisello and the 4.5 million of the Municipality of Sesto San Giovanni, for a total of 1,296 million euros”.
According to the timetable released by the mayor, the works on the Lilla metro in Monza will start only after the awarding of the tender, the drafting of which is expected by the end of 2025.
Unfortunately, as always happens, both for the Lilla metro in Monza, as had already happened for the Red metro in Cinisello, there is an additional cost that fluctuates between 250 and 350 million euros due to the increase in the prices of material and labor compared to the design times.
A project divided into two lots is not currently planned. However, according to the mayor of Monza this could be the solution to avoid wasting precious time. “We can start investing the 1.3 billion already available in the first batch and then start the second batch once the remaining financing has been found, which is simpler than obtaining the entire sum immediately,” Pilotto suggested, also providing some figures. “Furthermore, 38 million euros are missing for the Red line and we currently have to wait for Bettola to be unblocked, which is essential for reaching Milan and intersecting the lines,” added the mayor.
The construction sites will start simultaneously from the Casignolo depot (which will require 1200 days of work), from the Campania station (1550) and from Monza Fs (1870). Secondly, the works will involve the Marsala station (1,475 days of work expected) followed by Piazza Trento (1,744 days), then there will be the construction of the Monza Brianza station (1,460 days of work) and that of Parco Villa Reale (1,470) and finally the San Gerardo Hospital station (1348 days).
According to estimates, therefore, the work will be finished by 2033
- Image credits: Roberto Arsuffi; Google maps
- Milan, Monza, Metro, Transport, Mobility, M5, Metro 5, Metro Lilla, Cinisello Balsamo, Sesto San Giovanni, viale Fulvio Testi
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